As a podcaster I can totally relate to this. My cat, Starbuck, always likes to wait until just after I've started recording to release a death cloud of fecal putrescence that would curl the nose hairs of a turkey vulture. Then he spends five minutes scratching and tugging as loudly as possible at the plastic enclosure of his catbox.

There is a tree near my house, that has probably been there for years, just doing its tree thing, watching patiently as families come and go, empires rise and fall, and Isengard is flooded. I'm sure it's a beautiful tree, cheerfully trading carbon dioxide for oxygen, providing shade, and most li...